“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you.” Psalm 55:22 NKJV
“Life accumulates! If you do not learn to handle life daily, you will soon feel overwhelmed.”
My thoughts today are about “stuff that accumulates.”
The days add up and the years wear on. Daily cares and burdens grow. Some concerns come and are thankfully short-lived, but a few come and seem never to want to leave. Stuff accumulates in everyday life, and you have to deal with that. You have heard something described as “the straw that broke the camel’s back!” That simply means that even the smallest of things when added one upon the other can eventually break down the strongest. Life will do that if you let it.
You grow increasingly anxious when you keep everything locked up inside of you – maybe not knowing how to open up about things that matter most and hurt lots, maybe hesitant to bother anyone, maybe not knowing who to bother, maybe afraid what they may say or think. You have to be real about life. That is exactly what you have to do, and that is what your family and friends are there for – to share your cares as well as joys. You will often need a confidant; you will occasionally need a counselor. And nobody cares for you more than Jesus, because nobody knows you better than Jesus. The Bible says, “For God knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:14 NKJV.
Life accumulates! If you do not learn to handle life daily, you will soon feel overwhelmed. Don’t let your cares and concerns keep piling up. Anything that is important enough to cause you concern and worry is too important to ignore. “Throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon Him, for you are His personal concern.” 1 Peter 5:7 JBPhillips paraphrase. Isn’t that wonderful to know? You are God’s personal concern. Learn to take your every care and concern to Jesus because He cares about you. Don’t just bring them; leave them.
Why does every person want others to think that there is no problem they cannot solve, no situation they cannot resolve? That illusion is what makes you struggle needlessly alone with things longer than you should. The Apostle Paul’s advice may be best, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything! Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace.” Philippians 4:6-7 NLT.
Growing up, one of my family chores was to take out the trash. That was never a favorite activity of mine. I guess I wanted to do that the least I could, so I usually let it pile up a bit more than was acceptable to Mom or Dad. What I wanted to do weekly, they wanted me to do daily. Their idea was better than mine! In life as well, it is far better every day to take out the stuff that accumulates. Life is easier to deal with one day at a time. Jesus said, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:34 NLT. And Jesus is enough for any day’s trouble.
My prayer for you today is to accumulate blessings and not worries.